His namesake label is poised to blow up in 2013, so we swung by his Manhattan workspace to see where he gets his inspiration

His namesake label is poised to blow up in 2013, so we swung by his Manhattan workspace to see where he gets his inspiration

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The Man: Todd Snyder

The Man: Todd Snyder

“I think a gentleman is somebody who has respect for himself but also cares enough to show respect for other people. It's someone who is constantly trying to be better for someone else," says designer Todd Snyder inside his Chelsea office. "I think opening the door is such a simple gesture but it says so much about who that person is." And if Snyder’s remarks on what defines a "gentleman" are any indication of his interior design aesthetic, his "office lair" perfectly matches this notion (whiskey bottles, a vintage wooden bar, Edison bulbs, and your offering of still or sparkling water). The man who helped transform the creative direction of brands like Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren, and J. Crew launched his namesake label in 2011, and here, he shows us the items that he surrounds himself with while creating the Todd Snyder brand.

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Photos

The Photos

"I've always been a sports enthusiast and collected photos of old, vintage things. I use a lot of traditional athleticism as inspiration, so I’m always pulling photos. I'm a big Pinterest fan, but before that I would always just save photos that I found. I ended up having a fairly large collection and these are a few of my favorites."

The Man: Todd Snyder

“I think a gentleman is somebody who has respect for himself but also cares enough to show respect for other people. It's someone who is constantly trying to be better for someone else," says designer Todd Snyder inside his Chelsea office. "I think opening the door is such a simple gesture but it says so much about who that person is." And if Snyder’s remarks on what defines a "gentleman" are any indication of his interior design aesthetic, his "office lair" perfectly matches this notion (whiskey bottles, a vintage wooden bar, Edison bulbs, and your offering of still or sparkling water). The man who helped transform the creative direction of brands like Gap, Polo Ralph Lauren, and J. Crew launched his namesake label in 2011, and here, he shows us the items that he surrounds himself with while creating the Todd Snyder brand.

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Photos

"I've always been a sports enthusiast and collected photos of old, vintage things. I use a lot of traditional athleticism as inspiration, so I’m always pulling photos. I'm a big Pinterest fan, but before that I would always just save photos that I found. I ended up having a fairly large collection and these are a few of my favorites."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Lamps

"I grew up in Iowa, so I had a simple and modest upbringing. These lamps remind me of home. They're simple, and I like the three of them in a row."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Fabric Library

"Some are vintage and some are from mills. They're things that I've been collecting for years, and they're materials that I use for inspiration each season. It's a balance of new fabrics and old ones as well, and some of the antique swatches are from the 1940s or 1950s. I keep them in bins, and each bin is organized by mill."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Whiskey

"I'm a whiskey drinker. It’s something that I never really drank a lot of when I was younger; I started drinking whiskey when I was around 35. It's definitely pretty trendy right now, but I think it separates the men from the boys."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Painting

"I love what this painting represents. It's a little bit more grown-up and serious. I found it at Paula Rubenstein in New York, and she slowly unrolled it for me. She's a huge source for many designers. She has the best collection of vintage pieces and antiques. I love Old World styling, but I try to bring a modern sensibility to my style. This photo represents that to me."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Gadgets

"These are a few things from my favorite brand called Schoolhouse Electric. They're based in Portland. I've always purchased vintage versions of clocks, but this one is electric and battery operated, so I think it's genius. I love old stuff that brings back some form of memory or feeling. This brand also makes the best gifts. It's very utilitarian."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Bar

"We bought this bar about a year and a half ago. I've always been inspired by what guys do — whether it's singing in a bar, playing sports, or whatnot. My challenge is, how do you make this individual into a gentleman, this guy who likes to play sports but will also dress up and go to a bar? In some ways, this symbolizes that notion."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Mirror

"When I was at J. Crew and we opened the Liquor Store, I met this painter named Lawrence A. El-Amin. He's very talented and he recently created this mirror for me. It's all by hand and it wasn't done with a stencil. It took him about four hours to do this for me. He did it at the PROJECT Tradeshow, and he had about a dozen people watching him hand-paint this mirror."

ELIZABETH GRIFFIN

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The Books

"I love books, and they really became a source for inspiration maybe ten years ago. Books are the place I go consistently throughout my inspiration and designing process."